Rival
by jayster234
Summary: Ever since he was a child, Gary Oak dreamed of creating the ultimate Pokemon team. At the center of this team would be his starter. His most powerful Pokemon. His Blastoise. Unfortunately for him, his plans are derailed when Professor Oak gives him a different starter. An Oddish. (AU where Gary gets an Oddish as a starter instead of a Squirtle)


**A/N: Hello and welcome to my first story. This story branches off of canon in that Gary gets an Oddish for his starter Pokemon. As you can guess, he won't be happy about it at first.**

 **It's going to be based off of the anime and the games. This chapter will have a few similarities to canon but the differences will really start to appear with the next chapter.**

 **This chapter is pretty slow paced but things will pick up in the next chapter. Also, the age for getting your first Pokemon in this story is fourteen years old because of certain events that occurred before the starting of this story that I won't reveal yet. Without further ado, I present to you the first chapter of Rival. I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

 **Rival**

 **Chapter 1: A Different Beginning**

Like all other aspiring trainers, Gary Oak dreamed of a day when he could call himself the most powerful trainer in the world. His grandfather had always told him that the key to success was preparation. So he prepared. He planned his entire journey out. From the Pokemon that he would catch to the places he would travel to, it was all planned out. Gary spent months studying all kinds of Pokemon in his quest to create the perfect Pokemon team. After carefully consideration, Gary finally decided on the Pokemon team that would help him dominate the world of competitive Pokemon battling. Blastoise. Alakazam. Arcanine. Dragonite. Umbreon. Electivire.

Six Pokemon that would be able to stand against any other Pokemon team. They were the team that would make him the greatest trainer in the world. After all, if there was one thing Gary had learned through watching numerous Indigo Conference matches, it was that certain Pokemon would be seen often in the later rounds and other Pokemon would never even get seen at the Conference itself.

Pokemon like Alakazam and Dragonite were far superior to the common Pokemon that could be found anywhere. There was a reason that there were some Pokemon that people would spend their entire lives looking for while other Pokemon weren't even considered worth the time it took to catch them.

Gary's eyes focused on his television. On it, Professor Oak, his grandfather, spoke about the three starter Pokemon available to the aspiring trainers from Pallet Town.

"For all of you future trainers." Professor Oak began, "I'd like to introduce to you the starter Pokemon available to you. First off is Bulbasaur, the grass type and poison type. Second is Charmander, the fire type. Last but not least is Squirtle, the water type. All three of these pokemon will make wonderful companions for you."

Gary smirked as the Squirtle appeared on the screen. It was definitely the Pokemon for him. Once it became a Blastoise it would be incredible powerful. On top of that, as a water Pokemon, it's greatest enemies would be grass and electric type Pokemon. Blastoise could learn ice type moves to use against grass types and it could also learn Earthquake which would be invaluable against most electric types.

Of course, there were exceptions, like Magnemite and it's evolution, which could levitate and were therefore immune to moves like Earthquake. Nevertheless, Gary still felt that a Blastoise had the potential to become incredibly powerful.

Gary sighed as he looked at his blue alarm clock. It read 10:30 P.M. The house was completely empty save for Gary. Like usual, the professor was still in his lab working.

Gary shook his head as his mind flashed to something in the distant past.

'Tomorrow, I get my first Pokemon. That's all I should be thinking about.' Gary thought.

Gary laid down on his bed and tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately for him, his mind was still churning with thoughts of his future starter and he was unable to fall asleep until several hours had passed.

(XxX)

Gary groaned as his alarm let out sounds that seemed similar to the sounds a Charizard would make if it was being tickled. He slammed his hand on the alarm's stop button and slowly got up as he rubbed his eyes.

'Gramps is probably already at the lab… he really needs to get more sleep.'

He stretched his arms and set off to the bathroom to get ready for the day that would become a pivotal point in his life.

(XxX)

Gary leaned against the wall as he watched as his fellow trainers-to-be filed in.

The first one to get there, excluding Gary who had been there almost an hour early, was Ritchie. He was a young man with black eyes and brown hair. He wore a green, sleeveless jacket, a green shirt, and green pants. He liked green things.

Second to get there was Leaf. She was a young girl with long, brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue top and a red skirt.

Gary tapped his foot impatiently as they waited for the final teen who would be starting his journey today. As he waited, Gary's eyes scanned the room that he had already been in hundreds of times. The room was perfectly immaculate with everything in its proper place. On a table in the center of the room sat four pokeballs and two bags.

'One of those pokeballs has my future in them.' Gary thought eagerly.

"Am I late?" Ash Ketchum yelled as he came running into the laboratory.

"Yes." Gary replied bluntly.

"No. You're just on time." Professor Oak said warmly.

"Well then, let's begin." Professor Oak said. "Today is the day you will all embark on a wonderful journey into the world of Pokemon. A whole new adventure awaits you all. There will be fun times and dangerous times. But as long as you love and care for your Pokemon, I'm sure you will all be able to deal with any of the obstacles that stand in your path and go on to achieve your dreams."

'I wonder if he says that to every rookie trainer.' Gary mused thoughtfully.

"Now then, let me introduce the Pokemon that will be your future companions". Professor Oak said.

Gary frowned. 'Something is wrong. Gramps seems a little uneasy…'

"As you no doubt know, there are three Pokemon that are arranged to be the starter Pokemon for young Pallet Town trainers. Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle." Professor Oak began.

"I was wondering about that last night." Richie interrupted. "Does this mean that two of the starter Pokemon will be of the same species?"

"Under normal circumstances you would be right. Pallet Town is a small town and there are usually no more than three trainers a year. Sometimes there are even less trainers starting out in a certain year." Professor Oak replied.

"Unfortunately, these Pokemon aren't the easiest to find so I decided I would have another Pokemon from the corral given to one of you. One that was of equal strength with the other starters." Professor Oak said.

"What is it?" Ash asked eagerly.

"A Pikachu."

Gary blinked in surprise. 'Nobody's going to choose a Pikachu with the other options available. A Raichu can't compare with fully evolved forms of the other starter Pokemon.' He thought to himself.

"Unfortunately, there has been a slight… problem." Professor Oak said.

'I knew something was bugging him.' Gary thought.

"The Squirtle that I was planning on giving one of you has gone missing. It may have been stolen." Professor Oak said.

"What!" Gary yelled.

The other teens flinched in surprise. Professor Oak wasn't surprised by the outburst in the slightest.

"It can't be missing! That was going to be a starter Pokemon. Besides, what about the security? There's no way somebody could have just stolen it." Gary said frantically.

"Calm down Gary. We'll talk more on this subject later. Let's move on for now." Professor Oak said.

"What's the replacement for Squirtle?" Leaf asked.

"An Oddish."

Gary's eyes widened. 'Never mind. That's going to be the last Pokemon chosen for sure. There's now way Gramps thinks that it's equal to the other starters. How could a Vileplume or Bellossom, depending on what stone is used on it, ever match up to a Charizard, Venasaur, or even a Raichu. I can't let myself get that Oddish no matter what!'

So, ladies first. Leaf, what Pokemon do you want?" Professor Oak asked as he gestured to the pokeballs.

I'd like Bulbasaur please." Leaf replied.

"Does anyone else have a problem with that?" Professor Oak asked.

'Hmm… should I try to fight her for the Bulbasaur. No… Charmander would be fit better in my plans. It's not Squirtle but I can make do with it.' Gary thought.

Ash and Ritchie remained silent as well.

"Alright." Professor Oak said. He picked up one of the pokeballs and released the Pokemon hidden inside. A green Pokemon with a green bulb on its back appeared. Leaf knelt on one knee in front of it.

"Hi Bulbasaur." Leaf said cheerfully. "I want to be your trainer. Would you like to travel with me?" Bulbasaur looked at her for a few moments before deciding that it liked what it saw and nodded. Leaf grinned in delight.

"Now then… Ritchie. What is your choice?"

"I'd like Charmander." Ritchie said.

"So would I." Gary and Ash said simultaneously. The three of them glared at each other.

Professor Oak sighed. "I thought this would happen. There's always conflict over who gets Charmander, every single year."

"Of course there is. It's an awesome Pokemon." Ash said.

Professor Oak took four slips of paper out of his pocket. "I had the foresight to make these beforehand. Each one has one of your names on it. The one who gets picked gets to choose his Pokemon." Oak said as he checked the names on each of the slips. He placed one of the slips, the one containing Leaf's name, on the table. He shuffled the other three in the hat he had just borrowed from Ash, closed his eyes, and picked one out of the three. "Richie."

"Yes!" Richie said as he pumped his fist into the air. "I choose Charmander."

'I can't believe this. Both Bulbasaur and Charmander gone just like that. I should have tried to get Bulbasaur. Damn it! My plans are falling apart more and more with every minute that passes. I need to get Pikachu, no matter what." Gary thought frantically.

Professor Oak released Charmander. The orange Pokemon stood on its two legs and looked around. Ritchie knelt in front of it and smiled at it. "Hi Charmander. My name's Ritchie. Do you want to come with me?"

The Charmander nodded its head eagerly and leaped toward Ritchie. "Yes." Richie cried happily as he gently hugged Charmander, making sure that he didn't touch the flame burning on it's tail.

"Aw." Ash muttered as he looked at the fire Pokemon longingly.

"I have no doubt we'll have the same problem with the the other two Pokemon so I'll just choose another name." Oak said as he shuffled the slips in the hat again and then picked one up.

"Come on." Gary muttered.

"Choose me." Ash said, almost jumping up and down in anticipation of the next name to be chosen.

"Ash." Oak said.

Ash finally did jump up and down in happiness. "I want Pikachu!"

"Before I release him, I should warn you, he doesn't like humans very much." Oak said.

"I don't care." Ash said happily. "We'll be best friends in no time!"

Professor Oak picked up one of the two remaining pokeballs and released the Pikachu. It was a yellow Pokemon with red circles on its cheeks and it had a bolt shaped tail. The Pikachu backed away from the humans warily.

"Hi Pikachu." Ash said happily. "You and I are going to be the best of friends!" He reached down to pick the Pikachu up. The Pikachu immediately electrocuted him.

Normally, Gary would take great delight at seeing something like this. Seeing Ash get electrocuted would have been the highlight of his day. Of course, Gary was a bit busy watching his plans crumble around him. 'My Blastoise… my perfect, beautiful , awesome, and overpowered Blastoise will never exist.' Gary thought sadly.

"Gary gets Oddish." Professor Oak said. Gary just stared at the floor in crushing despair. Oak picked up the final pokeball and released its occupant. A small, blue Pokemon with green leaves on its head looked around the room. Gary ran his hand through his brown hair. 'I'm making far too big of a deal about this. I can still catch the other members of my perfect team. Maybe I'll even be able to find a Squirtle somewhere. This is just a minor setback.' He thought.

Gary slowly walked toward toward it and knelt down. "Um...hi. Do you want to come on a journey with me?" He asked awkwardly. The Oddish looked at him hesitantly but slowly nodded.

"At least he won't be one of those Pokemon who ignore their trainer." Gary thought, trying his best to look at the bright side.

Professor Oak handed all the trainers their Pokemon's respective pokeballs. He then opened one of the bags that was on the table. He removed four small, red objects from the bag. "These are Pokedexes. If you use them to scan a Pokemon, it will tell you all kinds of information about it. It can tell you the species of the subject, the places they can be found, the moves they can learn, and many other things. The Pokedex will also serve as proof of your identity."

The four aspiring trainers took the Pokedexes eagerly. They were all eager to investigate the capabilities of the Pokedex.

"How about we have a battle to test out our Pokemon? It'd be cool if our first battles were with friends." Ritchie said. Ash and Leaf nodded eagerly. Gary nodded slowly. He didn't actually want to battle with anyone because he was most definitely not confident in Oddish's battle skills. But if he refused then he would look like he was afraid and that was something Gary could not allow.

Professor Oak picked two slips of paper out of the hat.

"Leaf and Ritchie." Professor Oak read off the two slips of paper. The four Pokemon were returned to their pokeballs and then the professor and the four trainers went outside where nothing valuable was in danger of being hit by a stray attack. Leaf and Ritchie stood opposite of each other on a field of grass. Both grinned eagerly before releasing their Pokemon.

"Go Bulbasaur!"

"Go Charmander!"

The two Pokemon appeared on the field. Both realized that this was their first battle and they were eager to show off their skills before their new trainers.

"Use this opportunity to scan your Pokemon with the Pokedex." Oak suggested.

Leaf took out her Pokedex and scanned her Bulbasaur.

 _Bulbasaur, a grass and poison type Pokemon, can be seen napping in bright sunlight. There is a seed on its back. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed grows progressively larger. This Bulbasaur is female and has the ability Overgrow. Overgrow increases the strength of grass type moves when the Pokemon is severely weakened. It knows these moves: Tackle, Growl, and Leech Seed._

Leaf read the words as they appeared on the screen.

"By the way, the microphones are currently turned off. If you want to hear the pokedex entry out loud then you can turn it on in the settings. But then everybody within ten feet of you will know everything about your Pokemon." Professor Oak warned.

Ritchie nodded his understanding as he scanned Charmander.

 _Charmander's tail flame indicates its emotions. If the flame wavers, it is happy. If it burns fiercely, it is enraged. Charmanders are fire types. This Charmander is male and has the ability Blaze. Blaze increases the strength of fire type moves when the Pokemon is severely weakened. It knows these moves: Scratch, Growl, and Ember._

"What do you think of the nickname Zippo. I think it suits you!" Ritchie said. Charmander, or Zippo, nodded happily at its new nickname.

"It suits him? How does the name Zippo suit anything?" Gary muttered irritably. He and Ash were standing at the sidelines, on the side opposite of the professor.

"Let the battle begin." Oak yelled.

"Zippo use Ember." The Charmander fired several small ball of fire out of its mouth at Bulbasaur.

"Dodge and then use Tackle." Leaf cried out. The Bulbasaur moved to the left and began to run at the Charmander.

"Wait till it gets close and then fire Ember right at it." Bulbasaur marched straight at Charmander until it was forced to move to the side to avoid the small balls of fire.

"Use Growl Charmander." Ritchie ordered. Zippo growled loudly at its opponent. Bulbasaur flinched in fear.

"Use Leech Seed." Leaf yelled. Bulbasaur fired several small green seeds. The seed hit Charmander and a vines spread around Charmander's body. The vines immediately began to sap Charmander of its energy.

"That's why she got close to Zippo. It was so he couldn't dodge the attack. I have to end this quickly or I'll lose because of that Leech Seed." Richie muttered. "Use Ember." Ritchie shouted. The ball of fire slammed into Bulbasaur. The super effective attack knocked Bulbasaur out immediately.

"Aw man. I should have told Bulbasaur to get away from Charmander after the Leech Seed struck." Leaf muttered to herself.

The two trainers thanked their Pokemon, returned them to their respective pokeballs, and then shook each other's hands.

"That was boring as hell. I guess I can't blame them though. With the moves that their Pokemon know, I couldn't really expect them to come up with a good strategy."

"Next up are Ash and Gary." Oak said. Both of the boys scanned their Pokemon with their Pokedexes.

 _Pikachu, an electric type Pokemon, stores electricity in the pouches in its cheeks. There are charged when a Pikachu sleeps. This Pikachu is male and has the ability Static. Static might cause the opponent to become paralysed if Pikachu comes into physical contact with it. It knows these moves: Thunder Shock, Tail Whip, and Growl._

 _Oddish, a grass and poison type Pokemon, search for fertile soil and then plant themselves. This Oddish is male and has the ability Chlorophyll. Chlorophyll allows a Pokemon to move faster when the sunlight is strong. It knows these moves: Absorb and Sweet Scent._

Gary stared at his Pokedex. "Sweet Scent? That's barely a move! All it does is attract other pokemon!" Gary muttered to himself.

"Let the battle begin."

"Use Thunder Shock Pikachu!" Ash yelled after he turned hat backwards. Pikachu just yawned.

"Use Absorb Oddish!" A beam of red light shot out of Oddish's mouth toward Pikachu. The electric Pokemon easily dodged it and then shot toward the Oddish.

"Wait until it gets close and use Absorb." Gary cried out. 'Dang it! There's nothing else I can do but have him use Absorb over and over and hope it hits.' Gary thought to himself. The Oddish waited several moments before firing the red beam at Pikachu again. The agile Pokemon shot to the left and fired a Thunder Shock at Oddish. Oddish groaned in pain as the attack electrocuted him.

'Electric type attacks are weak against grass types so Oddish should be fine.' Gary thought.

Gary ran his hand through his hair again as he realized that he needed to change his strategy. "Back up and use… Absorb." Gary felt the urge to bang his head against something at the fact that there wasn't much else he could order Oddish to do. Pikachu shot toward Oddish again and quickly finished Oddish off with two more Thunder Shocks.

"I won…" Ash said, his eyes widening in surprise. "I wish Pikachu would have listened to me but I still won!" Ash yelled happily.

Gary returned Oddish and stared at the ground in shock.

"Alright, before you all return home to get ready to go on your journeys, I have a few things to tell you." Oak said as he handed them all potions to heal their Pokemon. "You all no doubt know that you can only have six Pokemon on you at a time. If you catch a Pokemon and you already have six Pokemon with you then the new Pokemon will be transported to my lab where I will take care of them. You can contact me when you want to switch your Pokemon. Now that I've explained all the basics, I know you all must be eager to start your journeys. So I won't keep you waiting. Good luck."

With those last words, Ash, Ritchie, and Leaf left to say their goodbyes to their families and friends and to gather their supplies for the journey ahead.

(XxX)

Gary walked angrily into the lab with Professor Oak until they got to a private lab. Then, Gary exploded.

"What is hell is this! Why the hell was an Oddish one of the options for a starter Pokemon?" Gary yelled.

Professor Oak sighed for what seemed like the millionth time to him. "I had to pick a Pokemon that was around the other Pokemon's levels. Oddish doesn't like to stay cooped up in the corral. It has dreams of growing strong. It idolizes the strong Pokemon at the corral."

"So? Did you not see what happened out there? I lost to Ash. Ash. For Mew's sake, he couldn't even get his Pikachu to listen to him. It just did whatever it wanted. Yet Ash still won. All I could do was have Oddish use Absorb over and over again. Do you know how long I have been dreaming of this day?" Gary said angrily.

"I had it all planned out! I would get a Squirtle for my starter. Then I would challenge and destroy Ash in a battle. After that I would sneer and say, "Smell ya later Ashy-boy.", and then laugh as I walk away. It was going to be perfect and now it's all ruined!"

"...that's a strange fantasy for you to have Gary. Honestly, there's no need to be so obsessed with defeating Ash. You should just be happy that you're finally starting your journey." Oak said.

"With a flipping Oddish!"

"It's not that big of a deal. I'm sure you'll do fine if you just do your best."

"There's a reason why the starters are Pokemon like Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. They're easy to train and they'll eventually become powerful. They are the backbones of a trainer's team." Gary argued.

"That's only for trainers from Pallet Town. Most trainers have to start with more common Pokemon." Oak replied.

"Yeah. Like a Pidgey or a Geodude. Not an Oddish! Look at the moves it can learn!" Gary showed his grandfather his Pokedex which listed the moves Oddish could learn naturally." None of these moves are powerful!"

"Gary, I've told you this before. A match isn't always decided by a clash of the Pokemon's strongest attacks. Sometimes a simple Poison Powder or Quick Attack is what wins the match. Just because a Pokemon can create bigger explosions doesn't mean it's stronger. All Pokemon have their own strengths and weaknesses, Oddish has plenty of strengths. Trust me. You'll thank me for giving you Oddish one day."

"Not likely." Gary replied. Gary sighed loudly and let a small smile grace his face at the fact that his journey was starting, even if it wasn't in the way he had expected.

"You're right. It doesn't matter what my starter Pokemon is. I'll still be the best no matter what." Gary laughed arrogantly to himself.

"Looks like he's somewhat back to normal." Oak smiled to himself.

"Besides I've got my own car and a squad of cheerleaders. Who else can say that? Where are they anyway? They should have been here by now…" Gary said.

"About that… they won't be coming."

"What?"

"I thought it would be better if you walked around Kanto. You'll get to explore all kinds of places you couldn't go to if you were in the car. You'll get to sleep under the stars. Besides, it's good to spend time in nature. You'll see more Pokemon that way. Plus, walking is a great form of exercise."

"What?"

"I didn't really think you needed cheerleaders either. For that matter, how did you even get cheerleaders? I was going to ask them to let you go alone on your journey but once I told them there would be no car they refused to go with you pretty quickly. Apparently they didn't want to walk around Kanto. Go figure. So I didn't even have to tell them that they shouldn't go with you. So I can't really be blamed for the lack of your cheerleaders."

"What?"

"Can't you say something other than "what"?"

"Gramps! I need my cheerleader. They're my moral support!" Gary said.

"You most definitely don't need cheerleaders."

"But..." Gary began.

"Trust me."

"There you go with the whole "trust me" thing again. Don't you realize that only makes you seem less trustworthy?" Gary muttered to his grandfather.

Professor Oak smiled. "Let's go home now. We need to empty your suitcases and get your necessities into a backpack."

"I could just use the suitcases if I could have the car…" Gary said.

"You're not getting the car."

"Dang it."

(XxX)

Gary stared at the forest in front of him. It was labeled as Route 1 on his map. With a deep breath, Gary Oak, with his backpack on his shoulders, walked into the forest and toward his future.

Gary removed the pokeball hanging off his belt, enlarged it, and tossed it into the air. A white beam came out of it, which quickly became Oddish.

"Hey Oddish." Gary said as he knelt down. "Are you ready?."

Oddish nodded its head eagerly. It then proceeded to bounce happily in place.

Gary looked around. The first order of business was to find other Pokemon. Oddish needed to battle them so he could gain experience and strength. Gary figure he could even catch a Pokemon or two. Strangely enough though, no Pokemon could be seen no matter which direction Gary looked. He frowned. 'Where are all the pokemon?'

Gary's mouth curved upward as he realized the perfect way to make Pokemon come out. "Oddish use Sweet Scent." Gary said to Oddish.

Oddish released a pink mist-like substance which spread around the surrounding area.

"I was even able to come up with a use for that move. I'm so awesome." Gary smirked in delight. A Spearow popped out of a tree and looked at them. Gary smirked as he decided to have Oddish battle that Spearow. Gary's elation disappeared when he noticed many more Spearow appear out of the tree, where they had been resting on the branches.

The Spearow began squawking angrily toward them. Gary back away slowly but Oddish looked behind Gary. Gary looked backward and saw a group of Pidgey. 'That's who they're angry at. It doesn't look like they realize Oddish was the one who woke them. They must think it was the group of Pidgey who awoke them Wait a minute. Isn't is obvious that it was Oddish who was responsible. I mean, we're standing right here and that was a move that Pidgey can't learn. Maybe they're just stupid." Gary thought to himself.

The flock of Spearow shot forward and began to attack the Pidgey. The Pidgey, completely outnumbered, were quickly put on the defensive.

"We should get out of here." Gary muttered to Oddish as he looked at Oddish while he prepared to carry him. Oddish just looked at him.

"What?"

Oddish just stared.

"What?"

Oddish continued to stare.

"Fine." Gary said with a sigh. Oddish leaped up and down in happiness. "Use Sweet Scent so they know it was us to blame. Then they can slaughter us. Yipee." Oddish released the mist again and all the Spearow simultaneously turned their heads toward Gary and Oddish. It was actually pretty creepy.

"Now we run." Gary said as he prepared to return Oddish. Oddish shook its head. "You want to run with me?" Oddish nodded. Before Gary could reply, the flock of Spearow suddenly moved toward them and Gary and Oddish immediately took off running.

As Gary ran, he noticed that Oddish was faster than he expected. "It must be because of the sunlight… his ability, Chlorophyll, allows him to use the sunlight to increase his own speed. That's pretty useful."

"Oddish! Let's jump into the river!" Oddish shook his head frantically. "We'll be fine. Trust me." Gary yelled. Oddish closed his eyes and then human and pokemon leaped into the river together.

Gary's eyes widened as he saw Oddish move forward slowly. 'He can't swim! Wait a minute. Of course he can't swim. What am I thinking? He doesn't have arms or even legs. All he has are feet and those aren't strong enough to push him forward very quickly. That's why he didn't want to go in the river. Has he even ever swam before? Did he jump into the river just because he thought I would keep him safe?' Gary thought as he grabbed Oddish, whose mouth was completely shut in order to keep air in.

Gary's legs moved rapidly as they propelled him forward until finally Gary had to poke his head out of the water because of a lack of oxygen. Gary looked around but there was no sign of the flock of Spearow. He pulled himself out of the water while still carrying Oddish.

"That's weird. Where did they go? Did they give up?" Gary said as he looked around. His gaze soon turned to Oddish who had shaken all the water off himself and onto Gary. "You okay?"

Oddish nodded. He looked relieved to be out of the river. Gary and Oddish laid side by side on the ground and looked up the sky. The few clouds in the sky drifted aimlessly. Gary groaned as he swung himself up. "We should get moving. Who knows if that group of Spearow is really gone or if they're simply looking in the wrong place for us."

(XxX)

Gary walked into the Viridian City Pokemon Center where he walked up to one of the phones before hesitating and then shaking his head. No, he would call his grandfather when he had something worth saying. At this point, he still hadn't caught any new Pokemon. He hadn't even won a pokemon battle yet. Gary and Oddish had ran straight through Route 1 because they were afraid that the flock of Spearow would return. Gary now regretted this, as Oddish didn't get a chance to battle the Pokemon that filled that forest.

Gary walked out of the Pokemon Center and was promptly stopped by a young boy who was around his age. He wore a samurai outfit that looked pretty ridiculous.

"Is it Halloween already?" Gary asked with a sneer.

"You fool. This is no mere costume. I am the noble samurai that resides in the Viridian Forest." The Samurai said.

"What do you want with me?" Gary asked, though he was still distracted by the samurai costume the boy was wearing.

"In the Viridian Forest I came face to face with three trainers from Pallet Town. First I faced a boy with a Charmander. Then came a girl with a Bulbasaur. After that a boy with a Pikachu appeared. All three of the trainers defeated me in battle. After hearing that there was a fourth trainer from Pallet Town, I was eager to battle him. When you didn't appear, I decided to come to the city to seek you out.

'Wait a minute. All the others are already in Viridian Forest. How are they so ahead of me? I thought I got through Route 1 pretty quickly. Maybe it happened because I had to decide which stuff to bring and which stuff to leave behind now that I don't have a car to carry my suitcases in. They were already packed so they could leave immediately. Still, there's a more important question I should be asking...' Gary thought to himself.

"How do you even know who I am?" He asked Samurai.

"The boy with the Pikachu described you for me. He said that you would have an Oddish. Using this clue, I used my magnificent detective skills to track you down."

"So you just assumed I'm the person you're looking for just because I have an Oddish? That's stupid. There's more than one Oddish in the world."

"I don't see anyone else with an Oddish. Do you? Anyway, are you ready to battle?" Samurai asked.

"Wait a minute. I never said I would battle you." Gary replied. He hadn't had the chance to train Oddish yet and he didn't want to take on another opponent with his only offensive option being Absorb. Besides, if he lost, he would have to give the other boy some money. That's the way trainers made a living. The loser of the Pokemon battle would have to pay the winner half the money they have on them, unless another amount is of money is pre-determined or the loser had less than five hundred pokedollars. Of course, if both trainers agree, the money aspect of the battle can be waived, as like what happened in Gary's match with Ash. Of course, most trainers battled with their money on the line because trainers needed money to survive. Being a trainer was expensive. As the saying goes, to the victors goes the spoils.

"If you're scared then it's fine." The Samurai sneered mockingly.

From a young age, Gary had always looked up to his perfect grandfather. His grandfather was a genius who had changed the world. Professor Oak had revolutionized the way humans and Pokemon interacted. His name was permanently etched in the history books. As his grandson, Gary had always been expected by others to be perfect like his grandfather. He had always tried his best to cultivate a facade of perfection to show others. Running away now would prove that he wasn't perfect, that he wasn't like his grandfather, and that was something that Gary couldn't bear.

"Fine. Let's do this."

"Alright. How about a two on two?"

"...I only have one Pokemon." Gary replied.

"The other three already had at least two Pokemon. Whatever, at least this'll be over faster. I can already tell that this is going to be boring." The Samurai released his Pokemon. It was brown with white horns. Gary scanned it with his Pokedex.

 _Pinsir, the bug type Pokemon, will try to crush its victim with its pincers. If this fails, it will thrash about._

It was as he suspected. The Pokedex only gave information like a Pokemon's ability or the moves it knew when relating to the trainer's own Pokemon. It wouldn't have been fair if you could just scan other Pokemon and know everything about them. A trainer could form countermeasures against the opponent's ability and moves. Even knowing the gender of an opponent's Pokemon could be useful as one would know whether or not to use moves like Attract. Knowledge was power after all.

"Let the battle begin." Samurai called.

"Pinsir use Vice Grip!" Pinsir ran toward Oddish in an attempt to crush him with its pincers.

"Dodge and use Absorb!" Gary yelled.

"Get close to it no matter what!" Pinsir continued to rush at Oddish. The beam of red light coming out of Oddish's mouth hit Pinsir and Oddish began to drain Pinsir.

"Use Bind!" Pinsir shot forward, its speed increasing as it ran forward. It grabbed Oddish and squeezed with its powerful arms."

'What? At the speed Pinsir was going at Oddish should have been able to dodge any move Pinsir threw at him. Pinsir must have been holding back so I would underestimate how fast it really was and in turn assume that Oddish could dodge all of its attacks.' Gary thought. "Keep using Absorb!" Gary yelled. "What do I do?" Gary muttered frantically to himself.

Pinsir kept squeezing and Oddish kept using Absorb on it. Unfortunately, Absorb simply wasn't powerful enough to allow Oddish to regain the health it was losing because of the Bind attack or to knock out Pinsir.

'This is my fault. I knew Oddish wasn't ready for this but I let that guy bait me into battling.'" Gary thought.

"Was that it? I guess I can't expect much. I mean, it's an Oddish. Why would you even use it for battling? You should just release it and catch another Pokemon. Then again, you would probably still lose." Samurai snickered to himself in delight as he collected his money from Gary and walked away. His laughter would echo in Gary's ears for the next few hours.

(XxX)

"Here you go. Your Oddish has been completely healed." A woman with pink hair said to Gary.

"Thank you so much." Gary replied to Nurse Joy as he watched Oddish return to his side. Oddish looked down at the floor.

"If you're embarrassed about your loss, there's no need to be. It was my fault for not training you properly or even trying to form strategies for battles. I should have tried to teach you another move before I battled another trainer. I just kept telling you to use Absorb. I didn't even really try to figure out a way to win because I had already given up before the battle had begun. I kept thinking that it was your fault that I kept losing but after being defeated by that Pinsir I can finally admit to myself that it was my fault. I was the one who wasn't trying my hardest. You were putting everything you had into every battle. But I promise you, it all changes now. From now on, I'm going to be a real trainer for you." Gary's hand tightened into a fist.

Oddish tried to pat Gary's leg. Unfortunately, as Oddish had no hands, he had to settle for rubbing his head against Gary's leg.

"We're going to become a real team. We'll train and prepare and then one day we'll find that Samurai guy again and destroy him. Then we'll be the ones who are laughing as we walk away." Gary said excitedly. Oddish jumped up and down again, which seemed to be his default reaction to things that excited him.

(XxX)

"Dodge and use Absorb." Gary cried out. Once again, Oddish fired the red beam which connected with the Ratata. The Ratata growled before it fled into the depths of the forests.

"Alright. You won!" Gary said happily to Oddish. "That was just the first victory in a long line of many to come." He assured Oddish.

Gary looked down at the red Pokedex in his hand. "According to this, Oddish learn Acid at relatively low levels so you should be close to learning it." Oddish nodded its understanding.

After tormenting a few of the forest's other inhabitants, Gary and Oddish encountered a rather large Kakuna, which looked looked like a yellow cocoon with eyes, which was basically what it was. Gary immediately scanned it with his Pokedex.

 _Kakuna, a bug and poison type Pokemon, is almost incapable of moving. It can harden its shell when it's in danger._

The Kakuna looked at them menacingly. 'It probably wants to fight Oddish in the hope that it will evolve sooner.' Gary mused.

"You want a fight, huh? Oddish use Absorb." The red beam scored a successful hit on the yellow Pokemon. The Kakuna quickly used Harden to increase its defense. It glowed silver for a second.

Oddish continued to use Absorb and Kakuna continued to use Harden. Gary frowned as he realized that they could be there for another hour with Absorb not being a particularly powerful attack and Kakuna's Harden continually increasing its defense.

Oddish suddenly stopped its attack. It took a deep breath and then then spewed violet acid at the Kakuna.

"You finally learned Acid!" Gary grinned at Oddish. Oddish continued to spew the acid at the Kakuna. The Kakuna, faced with an attack twice as strong as Absorb, fainted after just a minute more of battle. Oddish danced merrily around the unconscious form of its defeated opponent. At least he did until two Beedrill appeared above the Kakuna, who was probably their child. Gary and Oddish beat a hasty retreat.

(XxX)

Gary's eyes snapped opened as he heard a loud noise. He rose drowsily out of his sleeping back. That night was dark as the moon had completely disappeared from view and the forest was pitch black. His head snapped around just in time to see a beam of blue light flash by.

Gary's throat felt dry. The blue light had illuminated the area close to it. Gary hadn't turned around fast enough to see what Pokemon it was but the light given by the attack revealed a hint of yellow on the Pokemon. On top of that, the attack seemed like Confusion. Gary frowned as he tried to figure out what Pokemon he was dealing with. It was yellow and could use psychic type moves. Gary's eyes widened. He knew of a Pokemon that matched that description. Abra. But Abra weren't known to inhabit Viridian Forest. Of course, they could teleport, so there completely implausible for one to be in the Viridian Forest.

Gary and Oddish stood silently side by side facing the direction the Confusion attack came from. Gary slowly took a pokeball off his belt and enlarged it. 'I have to be very careful or it'll just teleport away.' Gary thought. While Abra was a Pokemon that was hard to catch, it wasn't so much because it was strong as the fact that it could just teleport away from trainers who were trying to catch it.

'That Confusion didn't look very strong so it can't have too high of a level...' Gary mused to himself.

"Use Acid." Gary whispered to Oddish. In the silence the whisper sounded louder than Gary had intended it to be and Gary winced. Oddish quickly spewed the violet acid at the place that it thought the other Pokemon was standing and was rewarded with a cry of pain. Gary had thrown the pokeball before the attack had hit in the hope that the Abra wouldn't teleport away immediately. The pokeball opened up and sucked the other Pokemon inside. Gary took a deep breath and Oddish stared at the pokeball. The ball twitched once before making a clicking noise to signify that the Pokemon had been captured.

"Yes!" Gary pumped his fist into the air. Oddish smiled happily.

Gary was delighted. He had always wanted an Abra ever since he saw one at the Indigo Conference for the first time. For a second, Gary wished Acid was a brighter attack so that he could have confirmed that it really was Abra but it didn't really matter. He could have had Oddish use Absorb so he could have seen the Pokemon better but it wasn't as strong of an attack as Acid was and Abra might not have been injured enough and could have broken free of the pokeball. Besides, it had to be an Abra. What else could it be?

Gary walked over to the pokeball and picked it up. He looked at it for a second, minimized it and put it on his belt. Oddish blinked in confusion.

"We'll meet our new friend tomorrow. It's late and we wouldn't even be able to see our new companion. Besides, he or she's not going anywhere." Oddish nodded and the pair went back to bed.

(XxX)

Gary blinked at the destroyed tree which lay only a few feet away from Gary. It had been what caused him to wake up yesterday night. It had no doubt been the victim of his new Pokemon's Confusion attack.

"Are you ready to meet our new friend?" Gary asked Oddish. Oddish nodded eagerly.

Gary took a deep breath and tossed his pokeball up in the air. White light spilled out of the pokeball and took the form of Gary's second Pokemon. Gary stared at his new Pokemon. It opened its mouth and uttered a single word.

"Psyduck."

 **A/N: The mechanics of this story will be based of the games because the anime sometimes contradicts itself. So things like the moves a Pokemon can learn will be completely based off the games.**

 **The other three trainers from Pallet Town didn't get much screen time in this chapter. That will change in later chapters.**

 **Note: I wrote this story on Google Docs because it has Spell Check but then I had to copy and paste it into WordPad so I could upload it here. I tried to fix everything that got messed up but if something looks weird then that's probably why.**

 **Reviews would be great as I really want feedback about what you liked about this chapter and what you think I need to improve on. Thanks!**


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